From Twilight to Sunlight: a Twilight Rewrite
by AshleySciFigirl
Summary: Typical teen Isabel Evans is forced to move from wet Washington State to bright, hot Dallas, Texas. She look forward to meeting new people & new experiences. And so she does, but not the kind she expects---or wants.
1. Prologue

**Hi all. First thing:**

**I don't like Twilight. **

**I hope you weren't expecting Bella and Edward and the gang, because you're not getting them. I don't like Twilight, because I think it's badly written and badly plotted with shallow characters and a silly take on vampires (SPARKLING???). **

**I think some of the story, however, might be interesting: the main character's inner journey (which I really don't see in Twilight itself). So I have begun a response, "answer" to Twilight. It's not so much a parody as a "what it could have been" or what I would have liked to seen. **

**So don't expect romance, sparkling, vegetarian vampires or emo teens (well, maybe a little ;) ). Expect (if I get this written!) the spiritual journey of one Isabel Evans and her encounter with an ancient evil and how she escapes the twilight and darkness of sin into the glorious light of Christian truth.**

**Don't expect too much regular updating, I'm a slow, careful write! lol Reading and reviews would be MUCH appreciated, especially so I can be encouraged to keep writing it!**

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She ran for her life.

A sickly yellow crescent moon gleamed in the windows of the long hallway, barely illuminating her way. The narrow walls echoed her frantic, pounding footsteps, throwing them back in her ears as if to mock her. The breeze of her flight raggedly blew through her blonde hair and mingled with the echoes. But even those noises, loud in her ears, could not keep out the menacing growls behind her.

Those growls also mocked her. Every time she thought she had outdistanced them, they freshly sounded from blank doorways around her. She sobbed as she ran.

_Please let me get away_, she thought---prayed. _Let me find the door…_

"You can't get away, Isabel. The door is too far…" the voice said, as if he could read her thoughts. "There is no escape, my dear…"

She ran faster, but the voice only laughed. It was a terrible, mirthless laugh.

Suddenly, she slipped on something small and round. She slid headlong into a wall---no, a door! She struggled to get up, her hands and knees rolling over the objects on the floor. She managed to, somehow, and in her terror wrenched the handle violently, but she only succeeded in pulling it out of the door. She moaned, hopelessness invading her mind and spirit.

What could she do? Where could she go? He was coming for her…a growling voice with no face…and no mercy…

He laughed, knowing he had her cornered. She sank to the floor. The smell of apples, fresh and sweet, reached her nose. She was sitting on apples. Could she hit him with one, distracting him so she could run again?

"That won't work, my love," he laughed. "You are mine!"

The sick yellow of the moon shone on a grey face looming in the darkness before. It was coming faster and faster, merely a blur of hideous red eyes, matted grey fur, and long jagged teeth curled into a snarl. It lunged at her---she hid her face in her hands---

The beast leaped at her---

Isabel screamed and opened her eyes to Ivan, her puppy, licking her with his warm wet tongue. A pale grey light peaked through her window. She burst into real tears and hugged the pup-dog, relieved. Ivan merely licked the moisture away. Isabel sighed and curled under her covers with Ivan, trying to keep the morning at bay, though she dreaded going back to sleep and recovering that nightmare. Despite her thrill-junkie nature, she hated nightmares.

But the sun refused to sleep longer than it had been allotted to and felt Isabel shouldn't either. The light turned from grey to pale yellow and pink, shining through her window as if to cheer Isabel up. She covered her head, refusing to be comforted.

However, her mother joined the sun in the torment and pounded on the door. "Up and at 'em, Isy!" she said brightly. "Today's the day!"

Yes, today was Day of the Dreaded Move. Not for her mother or her new stepfather, but for her. Anger and resentment boiled in her stomach as she through off the blankets and set Ivan on the floor.

"I hate him, I hate, I him!" Isy mentally cursed Charles Hempstead as she showered and dressed. Maybe that was what her dream was about: a cold, rich, arrogant, "fanged" stepfather who had manipulated her mother into "chasing" Isabel to her real dad, all because Charles didn't want children, not his own, not even his "beloved" wife's.

"Won't even let anyone call him Charlie," she muttered. She'd called him that once and got a cold, contemptuous stare and in return.

Isy threw her dirty clothes into a cardboard box as she contemplated moving from cold, wet Spokane, Washington to hot Dallas, Texas. She suddenly laughed and closed the box---the logo of her father's apple orchards printed on its side: Evans Apples, Sweeter than Honey Since 1918.

The thought of her father's orchards made her smile. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad after all. Who needed a cold, arrogant stepfather and a flighty, easily-manipulated mother? It hurt that her mother hadn't fought for her, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all…


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I actually got the second chapter worked on! Keep an idea out for those Twilight nods. Mostly I have nods in there to mock Twilight. Such as, switching Isy's dad and step-dad's names. Charles is the step dad here, and Welby (a variant on Phillip) is the real dad. Cobb is a variant on Jacob too ;) Actually, as I wrote in the character, I didn't realize I'd written in a Jacob equivalent! Nice how it all fits together, mwahahaha. And Navarro is a real college in Waxahachie, Texas. No, I didn't go there. **

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Ch 2

Isabel jerked awake. The book she'd been reading---the latest Star Wars novel---fell to her feet. She gripped the armrests and held on. A thrill went through her body. Excitement knotted in her stomach. Her heart beet twice as fast. She loved it airplane turbulence!

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing turbulence at this time---"

_Well, duh_, thought Isabel.

"—as we approach DFW International Airport. Please keep your seatbelts fastened."

Isabel had no wish to remove it. However, she loved the shaking and jerking. She even liked the groans of her fellow passengers.

All too soon it was over and the adrenaline leaked out of her, leaving her feeling just a little buzzed and hungry, so she sneaked some the cookies from her carry-on bag.

Munching a peanut butter cookie, Isy turned her attention to the view. It was dark by now and all the lights of Dallas and Fort Worth lit up the night. Orange and blue, yellow and green alternated in a patchwork-quilt of light. As they sped on, a long, dark strip appeared. According to the map in her hand, that was Grapevine Lake, with the city of Flower Mound on the north side, and---ha!—the city of Southlake on the, well, south. Then the airport.

Unfortunately for Isabel's adrenaline, the landing was safe and calm. Oh, well, there were other ways to get her fix. Carryon in hand, she exited the plane.

"Hey, baby girl!"

Dad! There he was, waiting for her. She laughed to herself as he grabbed her in a big bear hug. Her dad meant blue jeans and jean jacket, flannel shirt and big boots, the smell of apples and onions and dirt. The best smells in the world.

"How was the ride, Belle?" he inquired as they headed off for luggage claim. More of her stuff would be shipped by mail, but she had the essentials.

"It was great, Daddy," she replied. "Turbulence and shaking."

"Are you still into thrill rides? I thought you'd outgrow that." She pointed out a bag and he pulled it off the belt.

"Nah, it's too cool. Oh, hey, we've gotta get Ivan!" After being directed to the dog-claiming area, Isy led the way and ran quickly to her dog's cage. Ivan yipped in delight. "Who's a good doggy-woggy? Yes, Mama's here…" Dad laughed.

Bags and puppy in tow, Dad was quiet until they were loaded up in his truck and on the road.

"How's yer mother and what's-his-name, Charlie?"

Isy frowned. "Charles hates being called Charlie. He's mean and rude and hates me. And for some reason, Mom worships him. I don't get it. He doesn't seem like he loves her very much. He's too controlling. He even talked her out going back to college."

"Well, baby-Belle, your mother never had good tastes in men---except me, of course." Isy grinned. "But maybe it's not her. Charlie-boy has a peck of money, don't he?"

"Are you saying Mom married Charles for his money?"

"Deep down, maybe. She might think she loves him, but she's always loved shiny things---and you, of course. I should know, I was married to her for 7 years. But many women like to know they are safe and secure. That's why she couldn't be a farmer's wife. Too risky a venture."

Isy nodded, remembering the fights over money when she was little, just before the divorce and move to Washington State. "Yeah, she has gotten into debt a few times. We've had the lights shut off more than a few times. But why would Charles marry someone without money?"

"She's still perty, ain't she? Rich men like pretty ladies to show off, or so I hear."

Isy nodded, glad someone else had the same thoughts she did.

"But here, now, look at me, dredging up what's passed," continued Dad, patting her knee and getting licked by Ivan's tongue. "We've got a new life for ourselves! We've got the harvest and all the pickers to meet! We've got a few regulars as usual."

"Any cute boys?"

Dad winked. "Oh, a few. But they seem ta be city boys looking for pretty farmers' daughters more than apples and watermelons."

Isy rolled her eyes. "I can take care of them. It's college I'm afraid of."

"Nonsense. Navarro's a nice place. Molly's son—"

"You mean Mrs. Taggart?"

Dad blushed through his tan. "Yes, Mrs. Taggart. Her son Cobb goes there. Drives every day in a shiny red truck, one those fancy ones that are all show and no work."

"And how will I get to college?"

"Oh, you'll see. Something right up your alley, Bellsie."

Isy smiled, not just at the thought of a secret surprise, but at her nicknames. Only her dad could get away with calling her "Belle" (like the Disney movie) or "Bellsie" or some variant. She was Isy or Isabel to everyone else. Even her mom never called her Belle.

They fell into a companionable silence as they drove south from the airport through Dallas towards Welby Evan's farm just outside Waxahachie, Texas. It was where she had grown up and where she would live again.

She leaned her head against the cool window of the truck, arms around Ivan, thinking how glad it was to come home. What lay in wait for her? Cute day-farmhands? Good grades in college? Adventure of some sort? Probably not, but it made a good story in her head. She fell asleep to the sound of rain beginning to patter. Who said Texas was just hot and dry? Someone not from around here…


End file.
